


Footwork

by bluetigerlilies



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Dancing, Fluff, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, M/M, Nile discovers Nicky is shy and Joe and Nicky are cute, POV Nile Freeman, Post-Movie: The Old Guard (2020)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28794999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluetigerlilies/pseuds/bluetigerlilies
Summary: Their footwork was as practiced as it was when they swung their swords--which, Nile supposed, was in itself a sort of dance. She had seen them spar together, with and without weapons. They moved in space as if it were all shared between them, no 'Joe’s space' and no 'Nicky’s space'. It made it that much easier and harder to bring the other down. It was like two halves of one mind fighting, dancing in rhythm as one moved and the other moved in centuries-studied prediction.--The immortal team is on holiday in Greece shortly after Nile joins them. While wrestling with trying to remain unseen and wanting to enjoy her holiday like a normal tourist, Nile watches Nicky and Joe and learns that one of them is a shy dancer, and the other has had many lifetimes to remedy that.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Comments: 19
Kudos: 267





	Footwork

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote another dancing fic because I can’t be stopped, but this one is Deeper than the other idk. The exact location here is not mentioned, nor is the song the band is playing, so it’s up to ye! But I will say that I was listening to Weezer’s Island in the Sun when I got the idea and I may have been remembering that one scene in Aquamarine (an absolute classic, I will die on this hill).  
> This is hardly edited because I wrote it at 3AM as soon as the idea popped into my head.

They were on holiday in Greece, for one week, and Nile was having a hard time relaxing. Joe and Nicky seemed to fall into their own tranquil vacation state immediately. Likely practiced, Nile guessed, but she was finding it difficult to slow down and enjoy their rare respite. Although Andy insisted otherwise, she was still healing from the bullet wound she’d gotten from _He They Did Not Mention_ , so Joe and Nicky had suggested they take a short sabbatical somewhere relaxing and warm. Well, turned out warm was a bit of an understatement, but Nile didn’t complain. She was rather used to the heat, having spent a great deal of time deployed in Afghanistan only months ago. Nile knew that Chicago would be much cooler, and she privately wished that she could go back, if only for just a little while, while they had time to spare and while her age still aligned with her appearance.

But Nile couldn’t go back--at least not for a _long_ time, as Andy had so sensitively put it--so she decided she would try to be as present as she could during their time in Greece. Nile wanted to hit up all the major tourist spots, maybe because she was curious or maybe because she wanted to pretend that she was a normal tourist for just, like, a few hours. She wouldn’t share that with the others, though, but she knew they knew.

Andy had ventured off on her own in search of a place to grab lunch. She had been perfectly on board with eating whatever they were serving at the hotel, but Nile had managed to convince her to get some fresh air, which quickly turned into a group outing. They ended up splitting off, Nile going with Joe and Nicky to a sweets shop that Nicky swore by. Two hours of walking later, and Nile and Joe had finally started to convince him the shop no longer existed. Nicky hid his disappointment well, as he did with most other emotions. He had an unyielding poker face which never failed to impress Nile at times when she’d expected a reaction from him--either from showing him a scary movie or from something stitch-inducing-hilarious--and gotten none. The thing was, though, she just had to get better at looking for it--the subtle changes in his eyes.

Currently, the three of them were making their way through a densely populated courtyard, caught off guard by the crowd. Joe had told Nile that they hadn’t been to Greece since sometime during the mid-nineteenth century, so there was a lot that had changed since then. Nile glanced at Nicky’s downturned eyes as she maneuvered past a particularly dense cluster of American college students. He looked fairly indifferent, but there was an unmistakable air of disappointment lingering in his eyes. Nile knew Joe was aware of it, because of course he was, and she had hoped that the two of them could devise a plan to cheer Nicky up, if she could manage to speak to Joe in private for two minutes.

The cheerful and enthralling sounds of live music drew the three to a square in the middle of town, colourful and decorated with small tables and potted plants and clumps of tourists, spread out somewhat in the larger space. A small band was playing in front of their worn microphones, instrument cases laid out and open on the ground, slowly filling with American paper bills and coins as tourists lingered and passed. Nile snapped her head to Joe and an eager smile spread across her face. Joe mirrored it and nodded at her, then moved to get a closer look at the band.

Nile felt a bit like a child dragging her parents around Disney World and pointing at whatever excited her, whipping her head around to see if they were smiling back. The thought almost made her sad. Almost. But she snuffed it and instead moved closer to the band and slipped her backpack off her shoulder.

Joe stood beside her, leather wallet in hand, as she unzipped her bag and completely destroyed the organization she had going on inside in search of her own wallet. Joe had what looked like a small photo of Nicky tucked into a sleeve of his wallet, with his distinct nose and his pale eyes and his unmistakable mole. It was black and white and worn, but obviously cared for. Couldn’t have been newer than the early twentieth-century, and Nile knew they weren’t supposed to keep these things, especially in places they could so easily be found. But Nile would keep Joe’s secret.

Joe fished out a wad of paper bills, more than Nile had done or even considered, which made her feel bad, but he threw her a comforting wink upon noticing the way she reached for her wallet again. Joe clapped the wallet shut in his palm, disappearing the little picture, and turned to the real thing. Nile was about to join them when she noticed the way Nicky’s eyes drifted about and the way Joe smoothed a hand down his arm to bring him back from wherever he’d mentally gone. Nicky was thinking very deeply about something, and Nile would not interrupt. Instead, she stood close to the band, but far enough away so she wouldn’t block anyone’s view, hat and sunglasses shielding her face, and she watched with curiosity.

The band had moved on to a calmer song than before, slow and breezy with its beat and its lyrics, which might have been Greek and they might have been something else entirely, but Nile was busy eavesdropping, so she wasn’t paying attention.

Joe was speaking softly in Italian, and Nile caught a few words. A few weeks ago, she hardly knew three words in Italian, but she was determined to learn now, having noticed just how often the rest of the group spoke it. It seemed to be their most frequently used language, since they all shared it, and Nile felt a bit bad hearing Nicky stumble over English, as he was the least fluent.

Nile was pretty sure Joe had asked Nicky to come dance with him. Nicky had tucked his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and looked to the side, considering it, then reluctantly at Joe, who let out a hearty laugh, for some reason. Joe took Nicky’s hands, then, and it was obvious that Nicky was trying to conceal a smile, cheeks pink, which couldn’t have been from the sun since it left no burns on them.

 _Ohhh_ , Nile realized. _Nicky’s shy_.

Nile watched in amusement as Joe tugged Nicky by the hand to stand a little closer to the band and positioned them so they were directly facing each other. Joe started to move his hips, swaying back and forth on his feet just a little, exaggerating the movements with his hands, like being rocked by a gentle wave. Joe had nice hands, Nile thought, which should have been a weird thought but it felt natural. They were the hands of an artist, nimble and steady, delicate but firm, and articulated with love and fervour as Joe brought them down and hooked his thumbs into Nicky’s belt loops at his sides, nudging and pulling him along so gently, a nonverbal encouragement.

Nicky let Joe move his hips from side to side, but while Joe’s eyes were fixed adoringly on his pink face, Nicky’s eyes were scanning the crowd.

“Hey, hey…” Joe’s mouth formed the word, but Nile was standing too close to the speakers to hear his lowered voice. Nicky met his eyes easily and Joe smiled warmly before muttering something in Italian, only for Nicky’s ears. Nile couldn’t read Italian on a person’s lips, but judging by Nicky’s reaction, she knew that Joe must have said, “ _Focus on me_.”

Nicky looked into Joe’s eyes with such depth and attention that it would have made Nile crumple in on herself had someone looked at her like that. The intimacy of it transcended verbal exchanges, and Joe returned it like it was as instinctive as taking a breath.

It certainly wasn’t the first time Nile had witnessed them hold eye contact, because they did it constantly, but something about this particular time made her feel like she should draw the curtains and look away, then ask for forgiveness for being a voyeur. It made her feel all that, and Joe and Nicky did it without hesitation, and so often. Nile honestly believed they felt more comfortable just gazing into each other’s eyes than they did looking at the floor or the crowd, as any normal person who was feeling nervous would do. But it was the opposite for them. The second Nicky’s eyes made contact with Joe’s, all evidence of shyness or embarrassment left his face, just like that. Nile felt a little tug in her chest and she mentally cursed Joe for indoctrinating her with his poetics on the daily. It was his fault she felt so sappy now.

Joe’s thumbs were still in Nicky’s belt loops as they began to pick up an easy rhythm. They moved a bit slower than the band, but Nile could see that Joe was patient and taking his time, allowing Nicky to loosen up in his own time. Soon, Nicky fell into sync with Joe, and Joe smiled big and bright at him, cooing soft encouragements and nodding his head.

Nile only vaguely registered that she was smiling, and she quickly corrected that. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of smiling or anything--she was just feeling a bit intrusive and worried that one of them would catch her staring. But Joe was turned mostly away from her, and Nicky only had eyes for him.

They were finally doing what Nile would consider dancing, albeit moving very slowly, hesitation and stiffness still evident in Nicky’s core, but loosening up bit by bit. Joe let go of his belt loops, feathering his fingers over his hips for only a second before bringing his hands up to the sides of Nicky’s face and reaching one of them around the back of his head, long fingers becoming buried in Nicky’s hair. Nicky pressed their foreheads together in turn and their eyes drifted shut at the same time. He snaked his hand around Joe’s waist and let it rest at the small of his back, and they brought each other closer, somehow.

Nile was about to turn away, thoughts that she was not supposed to witness this gnawing at her brain, when Nicky’s face split open in a wide smile. She was a little taken aback, because she had never seen Nicky smile like that before, having only known him and the rest of the group for barely a few months. It was sort of shy, and perhaps a bit dorky in the way that it looked almost more like an awkward grimace than a grin, but Nile could pinpoint the moment his reservations left him, because his eyes scrunched up and the grin lit up his whole face.

Joe laughed against him, and then Nicky took the lead. With both hands on Joe’s waist, he chose the pace as they swayed together, wave-like and confident. They opened their eyes again and suddenly they were both smiling impossibly wide and giggling between them, saving their joy for each other to regard, and Nile had honestly started to wonder if they forgot she was there.

They moved at the same time, like they had rehearsed it or had been speaking to each other in their heads. Joe moved his hands from Nicky’s head and Nicky took Joe’s hands in his, connecting like perfect cogs, and Nicky spun Joe around once, twice, delicately and tenderly, and Joe laughed softly and pressed himself right up against Nicky once he’d twirled back around to face him. Nile didn’t have much time to chuckle at the sight or think about how cute it was--two old-as-dirt men, giggling like kids who’d snuck out of the house for the first time--before Joe twirled Nicky around too, a little quicker and sharper than Nicky had done, but no less romantic, and pinned his back against his chest, one arm locked across Nicky’s chest and shoulders, the other at his waist and hips, fingers still intertwined with Nicky’s, holding him close.

Nile’s breath caught in her throat as Joe buried his face in Nicky’s neck, chin resting on his shoulder. Nicky laughed, curling into him as they both continued to sway to the music, bigger and slower movements than before, and it was unclear who was leading the rhythm this time.

Joe removed his face from Nicky’s neck to murmur something directly into his ear. He then kissed the shell of his ear and then the side of his jaw as Nicky threw his head back against Joe’s shoulder with a genuine and delighted laugh, snorting on the end.

Nicky quickly recovered and flipped himself around in Joe’s tight hold, flashing Joe a wild and playful look. Whatever Joe said must have been flirtatious or racy because Nicky’s energy had sparked into something almost feral with desire, or maybe excitement, or maybe mischief, or maybe just unreserved adoration. Whatever it was, it jostled Nile a little, and the image of a much younger and ferocious Joe and Nicky became all that much clearer.

Nile had expected them to do something lewd, then, as she’d seen them do much more with much less to encourage them. Instead, Joe simply placed his hand in Nicky’s and Nicky rested his hand at the small of Joe’s back again and they pressed themselves together until there was no air in between them, foreheads together too, and noses slightly smushed against each other’s faces. Their eyes closed again and it seemed they both had faint little smiles stuck to their lips, unselfconscious and blissful and painfully in love.

Nile’s heart ached a bit at the sight of them. She told herself it was because they were just so cute, but of course she couldn’t deny her envy _forever_ , and she was pretty much looking at forever with them, since everything felt so much more drawn out to her freshly immortal mind.

But she wouldn’t allow herself to feel that way. Booker resented it. She knew that--or, she at least had a feeling. He had lost everyone in his life he had ever loved, and with Joe and Nicky, he was constantly reminded of a love he could never have.

No wonder it drove him to do what he did.

Nile watched her friends as they danced together, having finally slipped into a consistent rhythm. They had definitely danced before, possibly thousands of times. That much was obvious now. Their footwork was as practiced as it was when they swung their swords--which, Nile supposed, was in itself a sort of dance. She had seen them spar together, with and without weapons. They moved in space as if it were all shared between them, no _Joe’s space_ and no _Nicky’s space_ . It made it that much easier and harder to bring the other down. It was like two halves of one mind fighting, dancing in rhythm as one moved and the other moved in centuries-studied prediction. When one of them finally did disarm or defeat the other, it was sometimes because they would bring out dirty tricks--little gestures or declarations, anything to distract the other for just a second, and sometimes they were too good at ignoring it and sometimes it ended the match instantly. Nile had yet to catch them having sex-- _yet_ \--but she assumed it probably went something like that.

Nile didn’t look away as Nicky, still smiling, dragged his nose gently over the curls at Joe’s temple, then over his cheekbone, then against the side of his nose until their lips were almost touching but with no intention of kissing, just being close. It was like a poem, a drawn out verse, a declaration of love, finished off with a comma, lingering, not yet over, and then the song ended.

Nile expected them both to sober and for Nicky to blush again or go back to looking at the crowd, embarrassed, but instead they took their time opening their eyes, foreheads still pressed together. They took a breath together and sighed, then Joe slid his hand down Nicky’s back and pinched his butt.

Nile choked on a laugh--she tried so hard not to--when Nicky’s eyes flew open and he shoved Joe away. There was an amused gleam in Nicky’s eye, though, as he watched Joe, and Joe winked at him and laughed, then addressed Nile as if the last few minutes had not happened at all,

“We going?”

Nile was speechless for a moment, feeling a bit like she had just witnessed them have very graphic sex, and they must have known and been entertained by that, given the _humiliating_ presence of heat in her face. It took a few moments for Nile’s brain to create the pathway to her mouth, but when it finally did, all she said in acknowledgement was, “Uhuh.”

Nicky had switched back to being reserved, his usual calm and level expression on full display as they left the square together. But Nile noticed, from the corner of her eye, a pink tinge to his cheeks and the way he reached out to take Joe’s hand as they walked behind her.


End file.
